Selkie143

The previous comic's reader comments brought up a lot of questions about what sort of teaching techniques Selkie's school uses that I must admit, I did not think about. 😡 After doing some reading, I decided that the classroom uses a whiteboard instead of a chalkboard (easier on potential asthma issues) and uses light colors on the walls and floors to encourage a "bright" atmosphere (the background shadows are also a little paler than the "outdoors" scenes because of this. I left the character's shadows regular so they stand out more), and has some potted plants at the front (not visible in this strip) for color and a sense of life. I read a few articles about computers and even iPads in modern classrooms, but decided that equipment that runs $300-$500 per unit would not be a good investment for excitable and inattentive elementary students, so the kids will use books and paperback journals. The desks have cubbyholes instead of flip tops to reduce accidental finger-slams.

Calumet City is remarkably inclusive in general, it seems. If a gray-skinned amphibious girl showed up in any other city, whereever she lived would be besieged by tabloid reporters in, like, five minutes. 🙂

But, more seriously, I know what you mean. There doesn´t seem to be much, if any racism or homophobia anywhere.

Oh, they’re fine with other racial types, as long as you are at least human. It’s still racist the way people might react if they found out the truth. Yes, I too noticed a lot of different nationalities. In fact everyone appears to be something different. But, hey, throw in a blue-skinned, non-human and ya get “Eewwwww!”. Sheesh. Kids… AND adults.

Also I must have had a wierd elementary school. Ours was shaped box like on the front but the back side was like a clover where the different grades were in different leaves of it. We also had a huge playground and a nature preserve thing in the back where we’d do our earth science classes.

Yea it was kinda cool. We had a large pond where they had all sorts of fish and amphibians to study and a lot of plants they brought in. I wish I would have stayed there longer but I ended up leaving in the third grade. I’m probably remembering it being more awesome than it really was, things always seem that way I suppose.

Yea, people look at me a little weird when I say I made a new toy or something. Sadly it also makes kids think I’m Santa since I used to have a huge beard and work on toys while waiting for a ride home form work.

I actually feel bad that the diversity of Shards had the opposite effect on people. Someone asked us if our cast was entirely “white”. I blinked and responded that David is clearly middle-easternish, Humpty is an undead eggoid, Velvy is an animated inanimate object, Jack is a Brit, Mother Goose is a… well… goose, and half of the Dorothies aren’t even human. So… No, the cast isn’t “white” LOL. The diversity in Selkie is much more apparant because the story takes place in “real life” whereas Shards takes place in multiple story/fairy tale realms converging at once.

As others have pointed out already, I think it’s rather refreshing that you have a diverse cast of characters, Dave! 🙂 I wish things could be more like that in my town; I’m SURROUNDED by stuck-up, rich, white, snobby A-holes. There even wasn’t much variety in my school. :/

:3 Very happy to see Selkie and Georgie are in the same class together, though! That way Selkie isn’t just alone in a class full of kids who don’t know her and no one will sit in the desks surrounding her… willingly. XD

(Sniff) I too am nostalgic for my Primary schooldays (Secondary sucked euphemisms). The local estate had several rows of “sheltered housing”, so I went to school with Poles, formerly-itinerant Irish, and even a couple of Romanies. It was super.

All that variety has gone now, the third generation being completely assimilated. Ah, “What are those blue remembered hills…”?

I mapped out where everything was in the Candy Man arc of Shards, as well as where everyone’s room is in relation to the lab for the Library/Headquarters so far. Need to do some more details. I don’t want to be the one that has the fan say “Hey, ____ should have turned left and not right to get to their room, remember?” LOL. And great commentary! You put a lot of thought into it. And yes, I put in a cliff-hanger:) Get ready for another in Shards:)

I see a lack of well Mainstreaming. Also Selkie would be attending speech therapy, even I still have the lisp but I had to go, this was back in the 90’s. Also a lot of third grade teachers with names that hard to say normally give a second name for the kids.

My brother had to go to speech therapy in elementary school too. :/ The only speaking problem he had was being a little stuffy-nosed sounding because of allergies, but what can you do really?

Although I did want to mention you bring up a good point with the teacher’s last name. :/ When I read that, I myself thought of “Mrs. Affie” for some reason. XD I apologize, I just figured it was somehow worth mentioning.

Not to nit pick but if Mrs. Afkhami is supposed to be a hijabi, it’s not quite right. I know your drawing style is a little more simplistic and angular but it just doesn’t look right at all to me. The way you have the hijab drawn wrapped around her it would not expose her neck like that. The fabric would fall much differently. Just as a simple reference to some of the basic styles: here Plus a quick image search on the web of “shayla wrap” or simply “hijab” or “hijabi” will reveal much guidance in how to draw a variety of different styles. I’m not complaining so much that her neck is exposed (although I could if I wanted to) just that the wrap is inaccurate.

I’m glad to see a Muslim character in a comic, and I’m REALLY glad to see her portrayed as just a regular person (as the vast majority of us Muslims are) it’s just a little off-putting seeing the hijab drawn wrong. But maybe that’s just me personally. Please take my comments into consideration. Thank you. (sorry for being a little long winded here)

I’m starting to get the feeling this town may be like that in Neon Genesis Evangelion where all of the candidates for the evangelions lived in the one town. This may be some sort of protected government town where special cases are sent. Might be why no-one there really seems to care about the diversity and such.